Friendly fire: Kamala Harris exploded with fury and insulted a CNN journalist

The book Original Sin, co-written by Jake Tapper and journalist Alex Thompson, has revealed internal tensions and dramatic moments within the Biden administrationafter former President Joe Biden's disastrous performance in the June 2024 presidential debate against Donald Trump. One of the book's most notable episodes involves then-Vice President Kamala Harris, who, according to the authors, harshly insulted journalist Anderson Cooper after a tense interview on CNN. After the debate, which caused panic among Democrats due to Biden's apparent physical and cognitive fragility, Harris appeared on Cooper's show to defend the former president. In the interview, the journalist questioned whether Biden should remain in the electoral race, reflecting widespread concern among voters and members of the Democratic Party.

Harris tried to downplay the debate's impact by saying that the president had a "slow start" but finished "strong," and defended his tenure by pointing out that "three and a half years of historic work" outweigh one bad night. However, after the interview, Harris, visibly upset, privately lashed out at Cooper, referring to him with a strong insult: "This son of a bitch doesn't treat me like the damn Vice President of the United States." The book also details Biden's decline during debate preparation. At Camp David, where an intensive preparation drill had been organized, Biden slept the entire first day, showing fatigue and lack of focus. His advisors observed growing problems: weak voice, confused responses, loss of train of thought, and even difficulty closing his mouth when not speaking. As the preparation week progressed, his voice became hoarser, and he increasingly required throat lozenges.

Although the president blamed a cold for his poor debate performance, the problems seemed deeper. The book recounts how Biden's team tried to reduce his public exposure, limiting his appearances to brief one or two-minute videos. Even so, he frequently made mistakes that required multiple takes and editing with "jump cuts" to hide the flaws. The authors also highlight how Biden's allies justified his difficulties by attributing them to a childhood stutter, but critics pointed out that in previous decades, as a senator and vice president, Biden had demonstrated great oratory fluency. Finally, the book reveals that Biden has been diagnosed with advanced prostate cancer that has spread to the bones, a fact that became public after the president decided not to run for a second term. This decision made him the first democratically elected president to forgo reelection since Lyndon B. Johnson in 1968.